White Conflict
by Beckon
Summary: She was just supposed to be his escort back and forth between meetings, but when a moment in the snow leaves them both vulnerable... one of them is tired of waiting.


"Where are we?"

Sigrun glanced back at the question but took note that the only thing there was to see of her riding companion was the back of his head. His fairly-lengthy, green strands flowed with the cool Begnion wind around them as he seemed far more interested in what was below them instead of where they were exactly headed. A light smile caught the corner of her lips before she turned back to keep her Pegasus from flying off their route; knowing well that the flying creature tended to wonder off playfully if her grip on his reigns wasn't tight enough. "We should be getting close to the capital by now."

"So we're almost there then?"

"Yes, maybe just ten minutes or so more and we'll be in the warmth of the castle." she answered; letting the Pegasus drop a few feet in altitude to keep out of the bitter winds. "I know you're not used to flying much, but this is the fastest type of transportation we have."

"No, no it's fine." Stefan replied as he leaned back slightly in the saddle; partly pressing his back against her own at the motion. "I like seeing everything from a bird's point of view. It's beautiful."

He was suppose to be traveling to the Begnion capital for a meeting with the Apostle. It was something about how all the countries needed to keep their relations open and make sure that there was never to be a repeat of what happened two years ago with the Goddess battles. He wasn't hinting that he would've rather kept quiet with his own colony in the desert but... well he was. After all the years of torture and resentment, he was expected to just forget and forgive? What did they expect him to do? Run through Begnion holding their hands while everyone gathered around and sang? He would much rather jump in front of a stampede of horses. The only reason he went to these meetings was to keep with the good spirits and avoid another conflict with Begnion. But at least there was one aspect that made these trips just a little bit more enjoyable.

The Commander of the Holy Guard always took it upon herself to fly out of her way to pick him up when he could've easily made it to Begnion by that nightfall. He wasn't sure if it was just because the Apostle insisted that the meeting be held that morning, or if the Commander wanted to save him the trouble of traveling. Personally, he was hoping it was just because she wanted to spend time with him alone... but that was just a fantasy. Who would want a Branded anyways?

"Goodness, it's colder than I originally thought." Sigrun remarked; wishing now that she had put on more than just her cotton leggings and small scarf. Her thin tunic did little against the bitter, Begnion winds. The morning before had offered a bit more warmth and she didn't necessarily predict that the weather would change so quickly over a short time span. Then again, she supposed that was her fault and that she should've known better than to doubt the change of the weather- especially around Begnion. "This must be a huge change for you. You do live in the desert after all, although I'm sure this is a nice little break from the blistering sun."

"Yeah just a little bit." he chuckled. His teal-colored coat blocked out most of the wind but it was his hands and face that almost felt blistered from the cold. "Does it snow here often?"

"It feels like nine months out of the year it's snowing." she answered with a light chuckle as she loosened up on the reigns just before she dropped to level of the tree tops. "Begnion is a rather cold country so it's almost like you just have to get used to the snow to deal with it. This morning we could barely open the guard doors because there was so much snow pushing against us."

He nodded and looked down at the white-colored landscape below them. Everything from the trees to the rocks was covered in a large, cold blanket. "Do you think we could stop for a moment? I just want to see it up close."

"You've never seen snow before?" Sigrun questioned as she glanced back to him once more.

He turned back to meet her this time. "Once or twice during the wars but I always find it mesmerizing. Not to mention, there's no telling when I'm going to see it again and I guess you could consider me a fan."

Another small chuckle escaped her as she turned back to keep an eye on their track. She supposed she had forgotten the few times during the war where they were forced to trudge through the snow; then again, perhaps she had slightly forgotten that he was with them during those times as well. "Well… we still have that meeting to get to with the Apostle and I don't want to be late for it…"

"Can't we tell her that we ran into some harsh winds and had to land for a while? I mean, after all you didn't want your Pegasus to get injured or sick trying to fly through this horrible weather, right?" he offered. "I'm a terrible influence but you could always blame our tardiness on me and just tell the Apostle that I was a little late on getting ready for this trip."

While it felt as though it would've been a bit… frowned upon, she supposed it would be worse to decline a request from a partnering leader; especially one as courteous and handsome as he was. "I will admit, you are a terrible influence, but I will abide by your request. Not only because you asked nicely but because the Apostle would be disappointed with me if she found out I refused a request from an allied leader." She spoke as she surveyed the ground below them to find a solid landing ground before she carefully guided her Pegasus downward; a partly isolated clearing in the middle of the forest seemed to be purposely placed and well suited for them. Her Pegasus landed on light hooves and walked off the soft landing before he suited himself to a slow stop. Running her hands down his snow-riddled mane, she pulled up the small scarf she had tied around his neck before she moved to swing her legs over one side of the saddle; sliding herself down to land on her feet. "I can only spare just a few minutes so I don't want to take too long."

"I'll try to make reasonable time." he agreed as he dropped down to his feet as well; stepping ahead of her as he walked out further into the clearing. The snow clustering around his shoes and he found that the clothing he wore to keep the sun from burning into his skin did a fairly good job even in this polar opposite weather. Although, he did move his hands to rub against his arms as a harsh gust of wind seemed to challenge him on his previous statement. "It is frighteningly chilly though."

"Yes, well without proper insulation, it can be," Sigrun smiled as she carried the reigns with her before she tied it off to a nearby tree branch; rubbing her Pegasus' nose, she chuckled as he reached out and nuzzled her with the blunt of his snout. "Just imagine having to deal with this for most of the year."

He considered making a remark about how, even despite knowing the weather well, she still chose to wear her usual uniformed tunic with the mere addition of stockings and a scarf. He supposed that was meant to serve as her Winter ware but it didn't seem so. "What do you do with all of it anyways?" he questioned as he stooped down and gathered a handful of it before he tossed it into the air around him. "I mean, do you just let it sit there?"

She stepped away from her Pegasus and stooped down just the same to scoop some of the snow into her hands. "No. Most of the time we have to make sure the roads remain clear for the wagons to get through and make sure that there's not a large abundance of it in the city. As well, we have to keep an eye out and make sure there's not ice forming so that horses can move throughout the city without slipping every few feet. We try to reduce the chance of injury to anyone in the city, so we have to make sure that, while it is fun to play in, we still have to keep it off a busy street or out of a busy area. Not to mention… there's always the occasional snowball fight."

"What's a snowball fi-" he started as he turned back towards her- just before a snowball broke across his face. The impact brought a mass explosion of white snowflakes that littered and gathered in his hair and clothing. It took him a moment or two to recollect himself and figure out what had happened before he moved to wipe the snow from his face; looking up at the sound of her soft laughter. "What was that?"

Pushing her own strands of hair from her face, she couldn't help but to keep a grin on at the sight of his confused expression. "That was the start of a snowball fight," she replied.

"Well then what do I do?"

"You have to return fire."

He wrinkled his brow for a moment and watched as she only continued to hold that graceful grin on her pale lips. "… Well how do I do that?"

The sigh that escaped her next came with the playful hint of a tease before she scooped up more snow in her hands. "What you have to do is get a handful of snow and pack it together into a ball shape. You just want to kind of cup it between your hands and make sure the snow keeps together and then you throw it at someone. It's really easy to-" a snowball colliding with her hands was enough to cause her to drop her own in its making.

"Like that?" he questioned.

"No, more like this," she started as she quickly formed another snowball before she tossed it at him with precise aiming.

He shielded away as the snowball broke across his left shoulder; exploding more snowflakes around him. "How's that different from what I did?"

"It's not!" she called back to him before she quickly ducked behind the nearest available tree when he went to return fire. She gathered more snow up and peeked around the trunk to see where he was situated now; taking note that he had taken refugee just the same. Quickly surveying the surroundings, she sprinted out and watched as he revealed his hiding place as he went to attack her. A snowball managed to knick across her hip while she landed a more successful one against his chest. Diving out into the snow, she rolled across the ground and shielded herself behind a short bush this time.

"Does Begnion often time enjoy these games?" he asked as he watched her peek out over the bush she had taken shelter behind; noticing the large tree just behind her. A plan snapped quickly to him as he slowly pushed back further into the tree line.

"Believe it or not, we do." she called out in answer. "The Apostle doesn't play all too many times, and I wouldn't recommend playing with Tanith- she occasionally cheats."

"How does one cheat at this game?"

"Mainly by putting rocks in the snowballs." She remarked; peeking over once more to see if she could spot him. So far, no but that didn't mean anything. He had to be around here somewhere and there weren't all too many places to hide either. "On a good day, you could sometimes get almost everyone in the palace to get in on a good game; we'd run out on the balconies and collect the snow from there and toss it around inside. While it's fun, it does tend to get a bit messy."

"What counts as cheating exactly?"

"Anything that could cause harm really, like sticking rocks or ice into the snow." she answered; stopping at the sound of something above her creaking. Her pale eyes glanced up in time to see him release the branch he had gotten a hold of. A blanket of snow fell on top of her as the heavy branches dropped their burdens from the last snowfall; it was nearly enough to completely cover her as she ducked at the last minute to shield herself in some way.

"Does that count as cheating?" he called down to her as he swung down by the branches to reach the ground once more; watching as she shook herself loose before she managed to get back to her feet. "Please tell me it doesn't."

She laughed lightly as she tried to brush the snow out of her hair. "When the Apostle asks how I managed to get this way, I'll be pointing all my fingers towards you."

"Well… I'm guilty as charged, I can't deny that." he shrugged.

Shaking her head, she looked over to where he only stand and grin back at her; offering a brief shrug as compensation. "I must ask, how did you get all the way up there without me hearing you until that last second? I mean, it's not like there are any trees in the desert."

"I've climbed a few during my extended lifetime, it's pretty easy." he answered.

"I just… you know, I've seen a few of the Cat Laguz scale trees like they were nothing; I just thought you might be related to someone like that."

"Oh uh… well, just think of someone a little bigger."

"Tiger then?"

One had moved to rub at the back of his head as he let a small, maybe nervous chuckle escape him. He didn't feel like there was a need to be though, she already knew he was a Branded… there wasn't much further down the line he could have fallen. "Uh… a little bigger than that one too."

She watched as he seemed to look away from her for a moment. "Lion maybe?"

He stooped down lightly and grabbed another handful of snow before he tossed it up around her. "You guessed it."

"I'm impressed." she remarked as she pulled her arms up to cross over her chest; watching as the remark seemed to draw his attention back to her. "I didn't know Lions could climb trees."

"We don't tell anyone about it; it's a secret gift." he chuckled. "Now come on, I still have the meeting with the Apostle and I wouldn't want to face her anger at the two of us."

She followed after him as they headed back towards her Pegasus; her eyes unable to help themselves as they watched the smooth motions of the muscles in his back. His fairly skin-tight attire underneath the loose-fitting coat only appealed more to her… growing attraction to the leader. "Will I have the honor of flying you back when you're through speaking with the Apostle? Or will you be staying the night?"

"It depends on how long this meeting will last. If it's longer than expected, than I suppose I will have to seek a place of lodging."

"If you're interested, my room is always free."

It took a few more steps before the words finally caught up to him. The remark resulting in an abrupt stop in his tracks as the realization hit him and hit him hard. He seemingly snapped around towards her in blind hope that he had misheard her. "Commander Sigrun!"

Her look seemed to mimic his own as the flush of red across her cheeks could've been from the cold or from her look of embarrassment. "That's not what I meant! I just… I'll be delivering a message later on this evening and I may not be returning until early tomorrow morning. I was just offering my room in my absence for your usage." she stumbled slightly through her words before she fixed her speech and finished clearly. There was that pause of stilling silence as they both seemed determined to erase the mental images that had seemingly arisen in the seconds before. "What kind of lady do you regard me as, Stefan?"

It was his turn to stumble through words, that is if he could even get them to leave his mouth. "I just… don't turn this around to me. How was I supposed to know what you meant?"

"Well you seemed to think I was the type of lady-"

"You're the Commander of the Begnion Royal Guard, do you think I would press my chance with that assumption?" he interrupted.

"Sometimes I wish you would." she replied in quick response.

He waited a moment for her to add something to that, only to watch as she seemed to have failed to catch on to her own words. "I… how am I supposed to decipher this one? You Beorc women are so difficult sometimes…"

A quiet sigh escaped her as she moved to tuck aside a loose strand of hair. "Stefan, I value the commitment you put towards Begnion; I know this isn't easy for you and that you're doing it because it's the best choice in the long run. I admire the strength you have to set aside your own feelings about this and do what's best for everyone involved. There's a lot about you that I admire and… I can tell you share the same kind of sentiments towards me, so I want to ask you if… if you might like to court me into a civil union?"

More of her words to leave him speechless and stumbling all over once more. How did she go from talking politics to... this? "Commander Sigrun… that is quite an offer but don't you think I should be the one asking that from you?"

"In greater terms, yes but I know you won't."

"For very good reasons." he reminded.

"It's yes or no, Stefan." she interrupted as her hands moved to her slender hips. "Tell me your answer, that's all I ask."

Commander of the Begnion Royal Guard; right hand to the Apostle; overall war leader to Begnion; her closest comrade was Commander Tanith… needless to say, she was an incredibly important figure here. So, why him? Why him with the presence of a Lion Laguz tainting his blood? Maybe it was his good looks, his classy mannerisms, his physique… all were a good choice actually. But from what he could tell, she wasn't going to let either of them leave without getting an answer first... and he supposed he had been leading her on for long enough. What exactly was he waiting for? He had come to admire her for so long and here she was, offering him the chance he had only dreamed of and... he was hesitating. By the Goddess, why?

"Commander Sigrun… I accept your proposal."

"I was hoping you would. Now then, we don't want to keep the Apostle waiting any longer."


End file.
